


Pain

by Stephicness



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 06:39:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9479705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stephicness/pseuds/Stephicness
Summary: "Just a week or so ago, he was in Altissia, riding on the gondolas across the waterfronts, going to eat all sorts of strange foods, seeing all the sights. He was there with his friends. With Gladio, with Ignis. With Prompto… And now there was so many things that went wrong that his mind had forgotten all the good.Except for one piece of it, lying next to him. At least, he thought so."





	

**Author's Note:**

> From a Tumblr Prompt list:  
> "Stop" -- a drabble about one character calming the other down (from anger, jealously, etc) -- with Prompto and Noctis.
> 
> Warning! There's depictions of self-harm and blood. Be careful when reading!

Noctis was normally a deep sleeper, but not tonight. Stress and weariness took over to where sleep felt more like a curse. His mind raced so much that thinking of anything other than trying to escape from the keep felt pointless. All that mattered was getting out with the others and finding the crystal to bring peace to Eos again. A duty that weighed upon Noctis and the others, like a ball and chain that dragged him further and further into the dread of what may happen in the future. Noctis didn’t want to think about it, but he did, and he hated it.

Just a week or so ago, he was in Altissia, riding on the gondolas across the waterfronts, going to eat all sorts of strange foods, seeing all the sights. He was there with his friends. With Gladio, with Ignis. With Prompto… And now there was so many things that went wrong that his mind had forgotten all the good.

Except for one piece of it, lying next to him. At least, he thought so.

His eyes forced themselves open, slow and heavy as if lifting weights. He was heavier than a corpse, with limbs that felt shackled to his sides. But he tore himself from his place, sitting up as he looked down at the place next to him and the body that was now absent from its place. He blinked hard from the dryness in his eyes, not alert to much of what he could see just yet. But he heard. He heard the faint sound of panting, broken and shaken. He heard a loud gulp, followed by another heavy sigh and incoherent murmurs so quiet that Noctis couldn’t make out the words. But what he could interpret from it was that it sounded like someone was crying…

Noctis looked over to the blond-haired man that sat facing the wall a few beds over. His friend’s shoulders were shaking, the crying more apparent now that Noctis was able to focus on him. Noctis sat up and got out of bed to go towards the blond-haired man, gently placing a hand on his freckled shoulders. “Prompto? You okay?”

The prince found himself choking on his words as blue eyes shot up towards him. Prompto’s hands were shaking, crimson staining his fingertips as his wrist was covered in warm liquid. The moment Noctis eyes looked at the deep and bleeding claw marks on Prompto’s wrist, the blond quickly tried to cover his wrist with the band he always wore. Panicked and unable to slip the band over his wrist, he couldn’t meet Noctis’s eye or string together a proper sentence. “Noct! I… I was just-“

_“Stop.”_

Prompto froze as Noctis’s words rang in his ear. He could feel his heartbeat stop – like Noctis’s words could kill with a single breath. He felt himself shake even more. And when Noctis grabbed onto his wrist, he grit his teeth, wanting to pull away and just get away from him. To run. To make sure Noctis wouldn’t have to see him like this. He _never_ wanted Noctis to see him in such a pitiful state. And yet, despite his words, Noctis was gentle in his actions. Noctis reacted quicker than Prompto could as he turned over the blond’s wrist and quickly dug into his pocket for something – _anything_ to stop the bleeding. Noctis managed to dig out a handkerchief that Ignis had given to him and pressed it to Prompto’s wrist to stop the bleeding. Prompto had to wince at the sting of the fabric and with how tightly Noctis pressed it against his skin, but Noctis refused to let go. Not until he made sure that the bleeding stopped.

“What the hell were you thinking?! Hurting yourself like that?” Noctis looked up at Prompto, frowning as his friend couldn’t meet his gaze. He noticed Prompto’s free hand digging into his legs as well, but Noctis reached down, taking Prompto’s blood-stained hand and giving it a small squeeze. As he looked back down at Prompto’s hands, he noticed just what Prompto was doing. He was clawing at his skin, trying to tear up the barcode on his wrist. Noctis’s expression saddened as his eyebrows furrowed and he hung his head. “You don’t deserve to be in pain anymore…”

Prompto remained silent. He couldn’t really explain it to Noctis about how he felt. About how he felt like a monster. Someone unworthy enough to be with Noctis and the others. Even if they tried to reassure him that he wasn’t, these thoughts just lingered. They ate away at him ever since he was old enough to think. He knew he didn’t belong in Insomnia. He didn’t belong by Noctis’s side either. And yet, even if Noctis always reassured him that he was good enough, it just felt like he wasn’t. That he never would be. He was just a boy with a barcode. A monster… _Just like Ardyn._ Prompto’s lip ended up quivering with just the mere thought. He didn’t want to be turned into a monster like Ardyn. Like so many others that were experimented on by the Empire. He didn’t want to turn into a monster, to be labeled as the monster with the barcode tattoo. He didn’t want to change, especially when he finally felt like he could be comfortable around Noctis. And yet in the time he was separated from the prince, it felt like all of the progress he made in trying to be ‘good enough’ was all futile.

He could never change that. He could never change what he was. And the thought of it brought Prompto to tears again. He felt his body shaking, hands gripping Noctis’s hands before he slumped forward. Noctis leaned forward in response, resting their foreheads together as Prompto’s tears continued to fall and his breath waver. “I’m so sorry, Noct…! I’m sorry. I just… I can’t-“

“Hey, it’s okay…” Noctis spoke quietly back to Prompto. He made sure that he kept his hold on Prompto’s hand, but he carefully reached over, tugging over Ignis’s bag of curatives before he fumbled around for a bottle of water and a potion. He kept his attention on Prompto, reaching up with his free hand to wipe his wrist across the crying man’s cheeks to clear the tears away. All while trying to avoid spreading red over his face. “I’m here, okay? I’m here.”

“I know. It’s just that… I don’t want to be a monster. I just want to stay me. To stay with you guys and just…“ Prompto choked on his words again, wincing a bit as he felt Noctis starting to pour the water on his injury and letting Noctis start wiping away the torn up skin until there was only a faint pink stain around his wrist. “I want to be strong, but… _I’m scared._ You guys aren’t, but I can’t help it. I just _am_.”

“Prompto. Hey…” Noctis washed his hand off with the water before tying the bandages around Prompto’s wrist. Tight enough to stay, but gentle enough not to hurt Prompto’s injury even more. He knew he was insecure enough about the mark since he told the others about it, so he made sure to keep it covered for Prompto’s sake. But once the injury was tied up, he placed on of his hands into Prompto's before he rested the other on his cheek. A gentle gesture, but he brushed his thumb over his freckled face and letting the other man lean into it as his gaze wandered away.  “It’s okay to be scared, you know. It’s kind of intense being here with Ardyn watching us and these Magiteks coming after us too. And I know how you don’t like small spaces like this. It really is scary.” He nudged Prompto’s hand a bit, getting Prompto to look to him again with his red and watery eyes. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m scared too.”

“You are…?”

“Yeah. I’m scared because I don’t know what’s going to happen and what Ardyn is going to try doing. But you know what scared me even more?” Noctis gently reached down, taking Prompto’s wrist and brushing his thumb lightly over the white bandage as he looked at the blond. Prompto’s eyes widened in surprise before they softened, ready to cry again. “It scared me seeing you bleeding like that, and crying, and feeling like you were alone. But you’re not, okay? I’m here. _Always._ Whatever Ardyn said or did to you… He won’t be able to do anything to you ever again. I promise he won’t. So whenever you feel upset or scared, I want you to always know…” Noctis brought the bandaged wrist up to his lips and placed a small kiss on top of it before looking back into the teary blue eyes. _“I’m here.”_

Prompto couldn’t look into Noctis’s gaze without feeling his eyes sting with the urge to weep again. Even after all the fear, after doing something so awful to himself, and after letting his mind wander, Noctis still acted so kindly and compassionately to him. Never did Noctis look at him any differently. Never did he make Prompto feel like he wasn’t good enough. He was more than just a lab experiment. He was Prompto Argentum, a member of the prince’s entourage and, most importantly, Noctis’s best friend. Prompto gave a small nod, gripping Noctis’s hands before he released them and swung his arms around the prince’s shoulders, hugging him as tight as he could.

It really was Noctis this time. It really was him.

“I’m sorry, Noct. I’m here for you too, okay? I’m just really happy knowing that you’re here. That you’re real.”

Noctis scoffed, trying to make light of the tense situation as he hugged Prompto in return. “I’m real as they can get. More real than Gladio’s muscles, anyways.”

Prompto found himself laughing in response. “Yeah… Pretty sure he takes steroids or something.”

“No kidding.” The prince smiled before he pulled away to put his hands on Prompto’s cheeks. “You’re real to me too, okay? I’ve got you.” Noctis felt a bit hesitant at first, but he soon leaned down and placed a small kiss on Prompto’s forehead before pulling his companion back into another hug. “I’m here for you.”

Prompto gave a nod in response, squeezing Noctis tighter as he buried his head into his shoulder. “Yeah. Always.”


End file.
